A Royal Charter, on 15 July 1662, created "The Royal Society of London".
Lord Brouncker was the first President, and Robert Hooke was Curator of Experiments. The reigning monarch has always been the patron of the Royal Society since its foundation.
The motto of the Royal Society is Nullius in Verba (Latin: nothing in words). This shows the Society's commitment to establishing scientific truth through experiment rather than by quoting authority.
Although this seems obvious today, the philosophical basis of the Royal Society differed from previous philosophies such as scholasticism, which established scientific truth based on deductive logic, concordance with divine providence and the citation of such ancient authorities as Aristotle.
Fellows
The members of the society are called Fellows of the Royal Society, and put the letters FRSafter their names. There are usually about 1600 of them. They are elected by existing Fellows. All other posts, such as the Secretary and President, are also by election.
The Society's 15 Sections are administered by the permanent staff, led by the Executive Secretary, Stephen Cox CVO. The Executive Secretary is supported by the Senior Managers of the Society, including:
Mr Ian Cooper, Director of Finance and Operations
Dr Peter Collins, Director of Science Policy
Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of Communications
Society honours
The Society bestows ten medals, seven awards (prizes) and nine prize lectureships variously annually, biennially or triennially, according to the terms of reference for each award. The Society also runs The Aventis Prizes for Science Books.
Awards
Armourers & Brasiers’ Prize
Kohn Award
Michael Faraday Prize
Mullard Award
Royal Society Pfizer Award
Rosalind Franklin Award
Microsoft European Science Award (started in 2006)
1661 — name first appears in print, and library presented with its first book
1662 — first Royal Charter gives permission to publish
1663 — second Royal Charter
1665 — first issue of Philosophical Transactions
1666 — Fire of London causes move to Arundel House until 1673, then returns to Gresham College
1669 — third Royal Charter; original proposal would have made Chelsea College the permanent home of the Society, but the site became Chelsea Hospital instead
1710 — gets its own home in Crane Court
1780 — moves to premises at Somerset House provided by the Crown
1847 — changed election criteria so that Fellows would be elected solely on the merit of their scientific work
1850 — Parliamentary Grant-in-aid commences, of £1,000, to assist scientists in their research and to buy equipment.
Rousseau, George (1981). The Letters and Private Papers of Sir John Hill, 17141775. New York: AMS Press. ISBN0404614728. OCLC8111658.
Sprat, Thomas & Cowley, Abraham (2003) [1667]. The history of the RoyalSociety of London for the improving of natural knowledge. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing. ISBN0766128679. OCLC63174140.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Lomas, Robert (2002). Freemasonry and the Birth of Modern Science. Gloucester, Mass.: Fair Winds Press. ISBN1592330118. OCLC52158257.
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